Church Shuttle Takes Homeless to Shelter

Though government funding has run out for a church-run homeless shelter in Glendale, the program’s coordinator has started a van pool to bring those in need to housing locations in Pasadena or Hollywood.

The makeshift shelter at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church closed Monday after housing an average of 35 people a night, church officials said.

Because of cold weather Monday night, some church members decided to drive 14 homeless people from Glendale to a shelter at the Pasadena Covenant Church, said David Earle, who coordinated the shelter program at St. Mark’s.

“We took 11 people in the first two trips in two vans, came back in the one van and picked up three more,” Earle said. “We gave them bus tokens so they can come back in the morning.

“We’re not trying to move them there. We’re just trying to give them temporary housing for the night.”

St. Mark’s had been housing people in its parish hall since Valentine’s Day, after county officials agreed to fund the shelter for an extra week in light of recent storms. City, county and federal officials had originally committed $24,000 for a 60-day program, which started Dec. 16 at Glendale Presbyterian Church’s gymnasium and ended last week.

Volunteers from the Rotary Club and five other churches participated in the operation by providing food service and staffing for the shelter.

Earle plans to continue his van pool program for the homeless as long as weather forecasts call for an overnight low of 40 degrees or a 50% chance of rain. Those conditions would prompt nearby churches in Pasadena or Hollywood to open shelters, he said.

He hopes government officials will fund a church-run shelter program in Glendale next year that lasts an extra month.

Anyone interested in volunteering a van or being a driver should contact Earle at (818) 240-3860.